


Till The Stars In The Sky Cease To Shine

by theglitterati



Category: The Last of Us
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-26
Updated: 2018-04-05
Packaged: 2019-04-08 06:29:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14099310
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theglitterati/pseuds/theglitterati
Summary: Joel and Ellie attend Tommy and Maria's wedding.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Their relationship in this fic falls somewhere between love and friendship, or rather, somewhere beyond the confines of either. Ellie is 16 in this fic, and nothing even remotely sexual happens.
> 
> Title is from Willie Nelson's "Till The End Of The World, You'll Be Mine."

“Ellie! Hurry up, girl, you’re makin’ us late!”

“Would you relax? We have time,” Ellie called through the door.

She returned to the task at hand – scrutinizing her face in the dusty bathroom mirror – and ignored Joel’s plea.

She didn’t think she looked very good. Or rather, she didn’t know if she looked right for the occasion.

She’d never been to a wedding before.

“Ellie! For fuck’s sake, do I have to come in there?”

“Okay, okay, I’m coming.” She threw the door open dramatically, letting it slam against the wall. “Didn’t think you’d be one to get worried about being late to a fancy occasion, but whatever.”

Joel, head down as he tied his shoes, just muttered something about women taking too much time in the bathroom. Ellie ignored him.

Joel finished with his shoes. When he stood up and caught sight of Ellie, he froze.

Ellie frowned. “That bad, huh?”

"What?” His eyebrows shot up. “No, baby girl. You look beautiful.” The sincerity in his voice made Ellie squirm. It was less embarrassing when he teased her.

“I look weird,” Ellie said. She pulled at the hem of her dress.

The fact that she was wearing a dress was strange enough; she couldn’t remember the last time she’d worn one, or even if she ever had. She and Joel had raided an old department store the week before – killing about a dozen clickers in the process – to find outfits for the entire wedding party, including Maria’s wedding dress. The place was in decent condition, so there’d been plenty of selection, but Ellie had just grabbed the first dress she found for herself, a pretty, if a little too beaded, purple thing.

”Back in the day, girls woulda worn that sort of thing to prom,” Joel had said.

“What’s prom?” Ellie asked.

Joel shook his head. “Never mind.”

Now, Ellie was wishing that she could just go to this thing in jeans. But apparently, that wasn’t an option for the maid of honour.

“You don’t look weird at all,” Joel told her. “You look nice. A little different than usual, but nice.”

“You saying I don’t usually look nice?” Ellie asked.

Joel rolled his eyes. “You know damn well that ain’t what I was saying.”

“Yeah, sure, take it back now,” Ellie said, her voice playful. “You look good, too, by the way. Very suave.”

Ellie was teasing him, but he did look nice. He’d trimmed his beard for once, and Ellie thought he might have even combed his hair. Despite his man-of-the-woods image, with his height and broad shoulders, Joel wore a suit well.

Joel snorted. “I look like an idiot in a monkey suit.”

“A monkey suit?”

“Old saying.”

“Did monkeys used to wear suits?”

“No. Well, sometimes, I guess. Performin’ ones, anyway.”

“ _Performing_ monkeys?”

Joel rubbed a hand over his face. “I do not have time for this right now. Get your damn shoes on, we’re leavin’.”

“Fine,” Ellie grumbled. She grabbed her horrible shoes – _high_ _heels_ , for god’s sake – and shoved them onto her feet. She tipped a bit as she tried to stand upright and grabbed onto Joel’s arm to balance herself.

“Super,” Joel said dryly. “Let’s go.”

He took their gift for Tommy and Maria – a set of fancy switchblades stolen from town, because the world was awful – and opened the front door. Ellie stood rooted in place.

“Are you serious?” Joel said, when he noticed that she wasn’t following. “What’s wrong, can’t you walk in those shoes?”

Ellie bit her lip. Looking at the floor, she turned her right arm so that the palm was facing Joel, her bite mark clearly visible in her spaghetti-strap dress.

“I don’t like this being out,” she said, gaze glued to the ground.

“Ah,” Joel said. “Ellie, you know no one gives a damn about that thing anymore.”

It was true. In the two years they’d been in Wyoming, everyone had grown used to Ellie’s scar. It had taken the kids longer than the adults, but these days, no one mentioned it. But that didn’t stop Ellie from wearing long sleeves in the summer when she was around anyone but Joel.

“I care,” Ellie said quietly.

Joel shifted his weight in the doorway, the entire house creaking as he did. “Alright,” he said. “Hold on a minute.” He set the gift box back on the counter and went outside, shutting the door behind him.

Despite knowing it was ridiculous, Ellie was afraid for a moment that he had decided to just go without her. But he was back before she knew it, carrying a few flowers and fern leaves from their tiny garden.

Ellie frowned at them. “How are those gonna help?”

“Hold your horses, and you’ll see,” Joel said. He rooted around the drawers in the kitchen, returning a moment later with some twine and a pair of scissors.

“Wrist,” he said. Ellie held her arm out.

Joel worked quickly, tying the flowers and leaves to the twine, then looping the twine around Ellie’s forearm, tying it off with a bow when he was finished.

“It’s called a corsage,” he told her. The French word sounded strange in his Texas drawl. “Girls used to wear ‘em to dressy events.”

“Were they always tied with twine?” Ellie asked, examining his creation.

“It was usually ribbon,” he said, “but you'll take what you can get. Now, can we please get going?”

Ellie gave the flowers on her arm one last examination. The corsage looked nice. Really nice, actually.

“Yeah,” she said. “We can go.”


	2. Chapter 2

They walked down the gravel path towards the main complex of the power plant. It was only May, but the air was already sticky with humidity, the sun warming Ellie’s exposed shoulders. She clung to Joel as they walked to keep from breaking an ankle in her heels.

“I don’t understand why anyone ever wanted to wear these,” Ellie grumbled.

“I think they were supposed to make your butt look good,” Joel said. He laughed when Ellie looked over her shoulder to check.

“The things people used to do for fashion,” Ellie said. “Though I do like the flowers. Should we have made Maria one of these too?”

“Nah,” Joel said. “She’ll probably have a bouquet. Corsages are more of a prom thing.”

“That word again – what does it mean?”

Joel sighed. “It was this big dance thing you’d go to at the end of high school, before.” He glanced sideways at her. “I guess you didn’t have dances at the military academy, huh?”

“Uh,” Ellie said, “no.”

“Well, you weren’t missin’ much,” Joel muttered.

They walked in silence until Ellie broke it with the inevitable question. “Did you go to prom?”

“Jesus, I knew you were gonna ask that.”

“Then you should have told me before I asked.” Ellie elbowed him in the ribs. “So did you?”

“No.”

“How come?”

“Do I seem like the dancin’ type to you?”

“No,” Ellie said slowly. “But you didn’t seem like the singing type, either, before I heard your angelic voice.”

“Hah,” Joel said. “Fair enough.”

“You gonna answer my question, or what?”

“Argh,” Joel huffed. “No, I did not go to prom.”

“Couldn’t find a date?” Ellie said.

“You think you’re so funny,” Joel replied. “Actually, it was the opposite. Place I grew up was pretty traditional, and they weren’t so crazy on lettin’ people who’d had kids outta wedlock into their events.”

“Yeesh,” Ellie said. “Sorry.”

Joel snorted. “Don’t be. Like I said, not the dancin’ type.”

“Yeah…” Ellie said. “Well, you must have danced at your wedding, right?”

“Not much dancin’ allowed at city hall,” Joel replied.

“Sorry,” Ellie said again. “Too far?”

“Nah, kid, you’re fine. Just don’t push it.” He reached over Ellie’s head and attempted to ruffle her hair, but she dove out of the way before he could.

“Hey, fuck off! I spent time making it look nice!”

“Watch your language, missy,” Joel said, cracking a smile. “I don’t think maids of honour are supposed to be so damn mouthy.”

“Go shove your advice up your ass, Joel,” Ellie said.

They were quiet for a second, and then they both burst out laughing.

*

The wedding was being held in the “community centre,” an old dam building that Tommy’s crew had converted into a school/dining hall/movie theatre with tables, a few couches, and an old TV. Considering the circumstances, the decorating committee had done a great job turning it into a wedding venue for the day: there were strings of Christmas lights hung from the ceiling, most of which worked, and a fairly clean carpet down the aisle.

Ellie and Joel separated when they entered the hall, heading off to attend to their maid of honour and best man duties. As soon as Joel turned his back to walk away from her, Ellie jumped up behind him and ruffled his hair, then ran off before he could catch her.

“I’ll get you back, girl!” Ellie heard him yell after her. She just laughed and kept running.

She found the room Maria was getting ready in. After Ellie knocked, she heard Maria call “come in!” from the other side.

“Wow,” Ellie said when she entered. “You look beautiful.”

Ellie had picked out Maria’s dress, and she could tell she made the right choice: it fit her perfectly. She didn’t have a veil – Ellie couldn’t find one in the store – but her hair was pulled back from her face with a pin that must have been an antique before the infection started. She looked like an old movie star, like women Ellie had only seen in magazines.

Maria smirked. “I sure as hell do,” she said.

"Are you nervous?" Ellie asked.

"No," Maria said. "I don't think I am."

"Well that's good, right?" Ellie said.

“Yeah, yeah, it is." Maria seemed lost in thought. "You know," she continued, “I was a teenager when the infection started. Back then, I thought marriage, weddings, love, all of it was so stupid. Total wastes of time. All I wanted to do was get a good job, save up some money, and get the hell out of my home town.”

“I’m guessing you don’t think that anymore,” Ellie said.

“It’s funny.” Maria scrunched her nose. “When Tommy suggested we get married, I kind of kept thinking like that. I said I thought it was pointless. I mean, we’d already been together for years. But he insisted, so I went along with it. And now, well… now I think he had the right idea. Don’t ever tell him this, but he usually does.”

Ellie laughed.

“I think I was taking it for granted, when I was younger. I mean, I was taking for granted that I could have anything I wanted, so I didn’t appreciate any of it.  But now that the world’s such a shithole, I don’t know. Nice things seem nicer. Stuff like love and weddings that I used to think was stupid seems a whole lot less stupid.”

“Wow,” Ellie said. “Becoming a married woman has made you very wise.”

Maria snorted. “Thanks, kid. What about you – how you feelin’ about today? You nervous?”

“About falling in front of everyone in these shoes, maybe.”

“Ah, you’ll be okay,” Maria said.

“Yeah, but my pride won’t be if I fall on my ass,” Ellie said.

“Well, you look hot, so I’m sure all the boys and girls will still wanna dance with you later even if you do. Or did you bring one particular special someone as a date?”

“I came with Joel,” Ellie said, like it was obvious.

Maria looked at Ellie as though Ellie hadn't understood the question. Then she chuckled. “Well, he is special, alright.”

Just then, music started playing from the hall, flooding in through the closed door.

“Well,” Maria said, “I think that’s our cue. Shall we?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You know you're writing a TLOU fic when you google "best curse words."


	3. Chapter 3

Ellie made it down the aisle without incident. Joel gave her a very subtle fist bump – she’d taken great pains to teach him how to do that – when she reached the altar. Then, the wedding march started playing, and Maria followed her down the aisle, looking radiant.

The ceremony wasn’t particularly short, but Ellie was so engrossed that before she knew it, the officiant – the plant foreman – was telling Tommy that he could kiss the bride. Then they were off, back down the aisle. Joel held his elbow out for Ellie to take so that he could escort her.

“Jesus,” he said as they walked, “is that a tear on your cheek?”

“No,” Ellie lied.

“Aww, baby girl, you little softy.”

“If this conversation continues, I will stab you in your sleep tonight,” Ellie said, keeping her eyes straight ahead.

Joel just laughed. “I’m shakin’ in my boots.”

Maria and Tommy continued out of the room at the end of the procession, but Joel and Ellie just sort of stopped. The room had to be remade for dinner and dancing, and only the bride and groom were exempt from helping to move furniture.

Once they got the room set up, and everyone had worked up a sweat in the damp, absolutely-ventilation-free building, dinner was served. Joel and Ellie were seated at the head table at the front of the room, with Tommy and Maria and a few of their close friends from the town. Around them, the entire population of the plant was seated at larger, family-style tables.

“Hey,” Joel said, nudging Ellie as they approached the table. “Switch seats with Lisa.” Ellie and Joel were meant to be seated on either side of Tommy and Maria, with Lisa, a curvy, blonde woman who worked construction at the plant, on Joel’s other side.

Ellie stopped walking. “Why?”

“’Cause she’s a real chatterbox, and I don’t wanna have to listen to her all night.”

“So why do I have to move because you’re an unfriendly old grump? Why don’t you switch with Jacob?” Jacob, one of Maria’s friends and part of the plant hunting party, was seated to Ellie’s left.

“Because then I’ll have to sit next to Kyle on the other side, and Kyle’s a goddamn idiot.”

“Is there anyone in this place you actually do like?”

“Who am I asking to sit next to me, dummy?"

Ellie crossed her arms and smirked at him. “I’m not doing it unless you admit you can’t get enough of my company.”

Joel glanced at the table. “You know, Chatterbox Lisa’s lookin’ pretty good right now.”

“Joel! I’m serious. I will abandon you.”

“Alright, alright,” he said. “You’re the least annoying person in this place, or at least you were before you started demanding I declare my love for you to the whole damn world. Now will you sit next to me at dinner, or not?”

Ellie took a deep breath, pretending to be mulling it over, pretending like there was anyone she’d rather sit beside. “Fine,” she said. “I suppose I could do that.” She went to find Lisa to ask her to switch seats.

*

Dinner was duck – which Ellie was told had formerly been a delicacy, but it was something they ate at least once a week – with potatoes and vegetables. For dessert, they had raspberry pie – or what one of the older women claimed was the closest she could get to recreating a raspberry pie without flour. It tasted good, but Ellie felt weirdly nostalgic for the photos of wedding cakes she’d seen in old magazines, even though they were fossils in her mind.

Ellie was feeling daring, so whenever Joel turned to talk to Tommy, she stole a sip from his glass of bourbon. On the fourth sip, Joel said, without turning to face her, “You know I can hear you puttin’ the glass down, right?”

Ellie did not know that.

“Of course I know,” she said, faking confidence. It was pretty easy with all the bourbon in her blood. “You gonna do something about it?”

Despite her challenging tone, Ellie was worried for a minute that he was legitimately going to be mad. But when he turned to her, his expression was amused.

He picked up the glass, which was still about half-full, and downed it in one gulp.

“Guess I’m just gonna have to drink faster.”

When dessert was finished, and the plates collected, the crowd shifted some of the larger tables out of the way to make a dance floor, and Tommy and Maria had their first dance. They didn’t have any DJ equipment, but they did have a CD player, and a few CDs that hadn’t gotten warped over time. Ellie and Joel took a seat at one of the tables to watch.

When they were finished, they invited the rest of the guests to join them on the dance floor.

Ellie grabbed Joel’s drink, which had been refilled and consumed to half-full again, in plain view and downed it.

“The fuck do you think you’re doing?” Joel demanded.

“Getting ready to dance,” Ellie said. “It’s gonna look stupid either way, but at least if I’m drunk, I won’t care.” She stood up and held out her hand. “Come on, Joel. Let’s go.”

Joel remained seated. “Go where?”

“The dance floor. Where you dance.”

Joel snorted. “You lost your damn mind? We just talked about this. I do not dance.”

“People can change, old man! Come on!”

Joel pressed his fingers to his temple. “Ellie, there is no fuckin’ way you’re winning this argument.”

“Jo-elllll,” Ellie whined. “You aren’t gonna make me dance alone, are you?”

“Why don’t you dance with someone your own age?”

Ellie made a face. “I hate everyone my own age.”

“Everyone?” Joel asked.

“Yup.”

“Even that one over there? What’s-her-name?” Joel pointed down the table to where a tall, lanky blonde girl the same age as Ellie was sitting by herself.

“Clara?” Ellie said. “Well…” The thing was, even though she hated everyone her age on principle, it _was_ hard to hate Clara. She was the most inoffensive person in the world. She was like oatmeal. “Clara’s… tolerable.”

“That’ll do fine,” Joel said. It was then that Ellie realized she had walked into a trap.

“Hey, Clara!” Joel yelled down the table. “Clara!”

Clara looked over, her expression like a deer in the headlights. Ellie didn’t think Joel realized it, but the kids in the camp were terrified of him.

“Yeah, you,” Joel said, when he had her attention. “My girl Ellie here wants to dance. Would you accompany her onto the dance floor so I don’t have to?”

“Um,” Clara said. “Yeah. Yeah, okay. I mean, if it’s okay with you, Ellie.” She looked nervous, but excited, too. It wasn’t often that Ellie, the mysterious outsider, gave any other kids the time of day.

Ellie felt so bad for poor Clara that she couldn’t say no. “It’s okay with me,” she said. “Let’s go.”

If Ellie was going to dance with someone who couldn’t hold her up, she was definitely going to need to take off her shoes. She slipped them off and tossed them at Joel, feeling satisfied as he scrambled to catch them.

“You’re dead to me, old man,” she whispered to him, before going off to join Clara.

Joel rolled his eyes at her. “You have fun out there, sweetheart!” he yelled after Ellie as she walked away.


	4. Chapter 4

Ellie realized after about two minutes of dancing with Clara that she was pretty drunk. She had no idea what her moves looked like to everyone else, but she figured it probably wasn’t great. Luckily, Clara was no good either.

“I’m not much of a dancer,” Clara admitted while they shimmied. Like it needed saying. “But it’s fun, right?”

Ellie found herself agreeing. “It is pretty fun.” The alcohol was making her a little giddy.

It was also making her irritated with Joel for ditching her. She kept shooting dirty looks in his direction, getting even more annoyed when he just grinned back at her.

“Your dad doesn’t like dancing, huh?” Clara asked. “Mine doesn’t either. My mom’s always trying to get him to dance with her, but—”

Ellie cut her off; she didn't care that it was being rude. “Joel’s not my dad.”

Clara’s eyes widened. “Oh,” she said. “Sorry, I just… I just assumed. Because you live with him. I always thought you were Tommy and Maria’s niece.” Clara blushed.

“Nope,” Ellie said simply.

“Oh… okay,” Clara said. She looked uncomfortable. Ellie could tell that she was trying to figure out if she was too uncomfortable to ask more questions and satisfy her curiosity.

Curiosity won.

“So, like…” Clara started. “How did you, like... meet him?” She grimaced trying to get the words out.

“He smuggled me out of Boston, and then we went on a road trip together and killed a bunch of people,” Ellie summarized. Clara didn’t ask any more questions.

Ellie spun Clara around so that she could see Joel over Clara’s shoulder. He was still just sitting by himself, sipping at his whiskey, looking like he hadn’t a care in the world. Ellie tried glaring at him again, but he wasn’t paying attention. Somehow that was more insulting than his smiles.

Then she spotted Chatterbox Lisa a few yards away from him. That gave her an idea.

She waited until the song ended so as not to hurt Clara’s feelings, then politely excused herself. After what she’d said about murdering people, Clara didn’t seem keen to keep dancing anyway.

Ellie walked quickly over to Lisa, talking a roundabout route so that Joel wouldn’t see her. He was still more interested in his drink than in what was going on around him.

“Hey, Lisa,” Ellie said.

“Yeah?”

Ellie told her the plan.

*

Ellie half-sat, half-fell back into her chair beside Joel, kicking him in the leg in the process.

“Hey, stranger,” Ellie said, with an exaggerated wink. Her plan had put her in a very good mood. “Dancing was a riot.”

“Yeah, hello to you, too. I’ve been drinking all night and I can still smell the booze on you from a mile away. You’ve gotta learn to hold your liquor.”

“It’s a nice life being a cheap drunk,” Ellie said wisely. “Saves you money.” So she'd heard.

Joel leaned back and stared her down. “I don’t remember you ever drinkin’ anything you didn’t steal from me, anyway.”

“Whatever,” Ellie said. She saw Lisa approaching them – it was time. “I’m about to make it up to you.”

Joel didn’t get a chance to ask what she meant. Lisa appeared in front of him, looking expectant.

She looked over at Ellie for approval. Ellie nodded. Lisa cleared her throat and began talking.

“Hi, Joel. So, um, Ellie told me that you wanted to ask me to dance, but that you're a little shy, so I’d have to do it myself. And she said that was why she asked me to switch seats at dinner tonight, too, because you were too shy to talk to me. So here I am.” She gave him her best flirtatious smile, which, Ellie had to admit, was pretty damn good. “Wanna dance?”

The look on Joel’s face could have sustained Ellie for three hundred years. Priceless was a meaningless concept after the apocalypse, but if anything was still above valuation, it was that look. Ellie smiled so widely she thought her face might break.

“Um,” Joel said. He shot Ellie a death glare before continuing. “I think there’s been some confusion. Ellie here’s drunk, and she doesn’t really know what she’s talkin’ about.”

Lisa, god bless her, stood her ground. “She said you’d say that.”

“It’s just…” Joel was actually at a loss for words. Ellie was thrilled. “I’m not the dancin’ type.”

“She said you’d say that, too,” Lisa said. Ellie was really starting to like the woman. “She said I was not to take no for an answer.”

“But I… I…” Joel was out of arguments.

Ellie nudged him with her foot. “Go ahead, Joel. Don’t be scared.”

Lisa held out her hand to him. “Let’s go, cowboy,” she said.

Joel, mouth still agape, took her hand and let her lead him away from Ellie. As they headed to the dance floor, Joel turned back and made a throat-slitting gesture at Ellie behind Lisa’s back. Ellie just blew him a kiss, and took a big gulp out of his drink. The revenge made the whiskey taste sweeter.

Ellie had given Lisa strict instructions to keep Joel on the dance floor for as long as possible – to help him overcome his shyness, of course. Ellie was feeling proud of her artfulness on this one.

In the middle of the fourth very awkward song, Ellie decided he’d probably suffered enough. She poured the last of the whiskey down her throat, and went to join them.

“Excuse me,” Ellie said, tapping Lisa on the shoulder. She put on her best Sweet Little Girl face. “Do you think I could interrupt for a dance?”

“Of course, honey,” Lisa said quickly. Maybe Joel hadn’t turned out to be all she’d hoped for in a dance partner after all. Given that he looked like he was about to murder someone or throw up or both, that wasn’t all that surprising.

She left them alone, leaving the dance floor. Joel immediately started to follow her, but Ellie planted her feet and grabbed his arm.

“Oh, no, you don’t,” Ellie said. “You’re out here now, and you’re gonna dance with me.”

Joel turned around. “You’re bein' a real shit tonight, you know that?”

“No more than you are,” Ellie spat back.

“Ellie—”

“Don’t fuckin’ ‘Ellie’ me!” It was probably the booze, but she had gone from finding this all amusing to being genuinely upset in a split second. “You’re being an asshole!” The people around them turned to look; apparently, she was talking rather loudly, too.

“Sorry,” Joel said to the other dancers. To Ellie, he said, “are you really that upset that I won’t dance with you?”

“Yessssss-uh,” Ellie whined. She pouted at him a little.

That broke Joel’s self-control. The rare time he tried to deny Ellie something she wanted, like he was now, he never won out in the end.

“Fine,” he said with a huff. “One dance.”

“One full song,” Ellie specified. “This one’s already half-over.”

“One song,” Joel repeated. “And if you say anything about my dancin’, I ain’t doing this ever again.”

“Deal,” Ellie said. Her bad mood was already long forgotten.

When the next song started, it was fast, so Ellie grabbed Joel’s hands and jumped around to try to get him moving. It didn’t really work. He just kind of stood there and let her do the work.

“It doesn’t count if you don’t try,” Ellie said.

He put in a little more effort, moving his arms back and forth with hers.

“You have to move your feet, too.”

“What did I say about criticizin’ me?” Joel said.

Ellie stopped moving. “I was criticizing your standing still, not your dancing,” she said.

Keeping their hands linked, she took a step towards him, leaving just an inch of space between them.

“Joel,” she said quietly, her voice full of emotion. “ _Dance. With. Me.”_

She thought for a moment that he was going to ignore her, going to tell her that he was done with this crap. She braced herself for it.

But then, before she understood what was happening, Joel was spinning her around, his hand in hers above her head as she twirled. She got a little dizzy – spinning and alcohol weren’t a great combination – and when she stopped spinning, she fell into his arms.

“If you wanna dance so bad, you’re gonna have to stand up straight,” Joel said with a smirk. Ellie grinned.

He finally started dancing, holding her hands and moving her back and forth to the beat. Once he got started, Joel actually wasn’t that bad. He was definitely better than Ellie, who was so excited that she lost all semblance of control over her limbs.

The song ended quickly – they had spent half of it arguing, but what else was new? – and Ellie was about to open her mouth to ask for one more dance when Joel pressed a finger to her lips to shut her up.

He pulled her in a little closer, saying, “don’t worry, baby girl, we can keep going.”

Ellie beamed at him, and he smiled back, one of his special, real smiles that were reserved just for her.

And that was when the power went out, cutting off the music and plunging them into complete darkness.


	5. Chapter 5

“Ellie? Ellie!”

“I’m right here.”

“Get behind me. Now.”

The only light in the room was what little moonlight was visible through the ceiling-level windows. Ellie could just see the outline of Joel’s body beside her. She turned so that they were back-to-back, hiking her dress up to retrieve her knife from where it was strapped to her thigh. She heard a metallic clicking that she recognized as the safety being taken off of Joel’s pistol.

The crowd was noisy, everyone asking what was happening and why the lights had gone out. Ellie wished they’d all shut up; if something bad was about to go down, the bandits or clickers or whoever would have no trouble locating them all.

A light flashed on and off three times across the room. The last time it stayed on, and the owner held the flashlight to his face. It was Tommy. He looked a little dishevelled in his second-hand tux. Ellie felt bad that his wedding had been interrupted.

“Will everyone please quiet down?” he said loudly. The crowd immediately went silent. “Thank you. I radioed the guys over at the dam. Just waitin’ to hear back. Everyone just keep calm until they reply. And keep it down.”

Ellie felt Joel wrap his hand around her wrist from behind.

“You okay?” he asked.

“Yeah,” Ellie said. She wasn’t really okay; after all this time, she still went into panic mode when stuff like this happened. But it was a thousand times worse when it happened when Joel wasn’t around, so this wasn’t so bad. “You?” she asked him back.

“Just peachy,” was his reply. He didn’t take his hand off of her arm, though, which Ellie appreciated.

Tommy’s radio crackled. Everyone waited to hear what was going on.

“Hey Tommy, looks like some rocks got caught in the turbine. Doesn’t seem like sabotage or nothin’. I think we’re all good on security. But I don’t know when we’re gonna be able to get the power back on. Give us a few minutes to get a better look, we gotta get some better flashlights down here.”

“Sure thing. Thanks, Darren.”

Tommy turned his flashlight back on. Ellie expected him to look disappointed, but he just looked relieved. “You heard the man folks. We’ve just gotta sit tight for a while. Or feel free to go home if you want. Maria and I ain’t gonna get mad if you don’t feel like sittin’ around in the dark.”

Joel’s grip on Ellie’s arm loosened.

“Jesus Christ,” Joel muttered.

“Seriously,” Ellie agreed.

“You sure you’re okay?” Joel asked her.

“I was just kinda scared shitless, but I guess it’s all good now,” Ellie said. “You wanna try to find our seats?” Her eyes were starting to adjust to the darkness; maybe she could find their table.

“Actually,” Joel said, “I think I still owe you a dance.”

Ellie frowned, though Joel couldn’t see it. “Really?”

“C’mere.” Joel fumbled for Ellie’s hands in the darkness. He placed them on his shoulders, then slipped his own hands around her waist.

“But there’s no music,” Ellie said.

“No beat to keep time to,” Joel replied. “And nobody leerin’ at us. It’s perfect.”

Ellie couldn’t disagree with that assessment.

She leaned into Joel as they swayed in place, her head falling onto his chest. She could hear his heart beating through his suit jacket. He removed one of his hands from her waist and tangled it into her hair. This time, she didn’t complain about him messing it up. Nobody was watching, and she didn’t care what anyone but Joel thought, anyway.

They stayed like that for far longer than Ellie thought Joel would. They only stopped when Tommy’s radio crackled back to life.

The news wasn’t good. On the other end, Darren said a bunch of technical stuff Ellie couldn’t understand. But the gist of it was clear: the power wasn’t coming back on tonight.

Tommy’s face appeared in the darkness again; this time, Maria was visible at his side. “Well, that’s that I guess. No use sittin’ around here in the dark.” The crowd groaned. “Now, now, don’t get all sappy. We’ve had a great time here with y’all tonight, and I don’t wanna hear any whinin’. This is the best wedding I could have asked for, and all this means is that we get to start the wedding night early.” Tommy laughed; Maria smiled and rolled her eyes. “We’ll get to cleanin’ this up in the morning. For now, y’all just get home safe, alright?”

“We should go say our goodbyes,” Joel said.

Ellie followed him over to Tommy and Maria. It took a while to find them, with the darkness and the crowd of people trying to do the same thing. Ellie gave them both a hug. Joel gave Maria a kiss on the cheek and Tommy what looked like a very emotional handshake. And then they set off into town.

*

They were halfway home when Joel said, “Ellie, where the hell are your shoes?”

Ellie looked down at her bare feet. “Wherever they ended up when I threw them at you, probably.”

Joel stopped walking. “We’re goin’ back to get 'em. There’s broken glass and nails and who-knows-what all over this street. You’re gonna get cut.” Most of the streets in Jackson had been cleared of the garbage, run-down cars, and human remains that littered them. But if there could really be a rough neighbourhood after the apocalypse, Joel and Ellie’s street was it in Jackson. It was a new area of town, one that hadn’t been cleaned yet, and it was messy.

“Even if we go back for them, I’m not putting them on,” Ellie said. “They hurt like hell.”

“Ellie—”

“I’d almost rather step on the broken glass than put those things back on—”

“Ellie—”

“I still can’t believe that people really _chose_ to wear those—”

“Ellie! If you step on a nail and get tetanus and die _after_ gettin’ bit by an Infected and survivin’, that’ll be the all-time dumbest thing anyone has ever died from.” Joel raked a hand through his hair. “Is that really how you wanna go down in history?”

Ellie smirked. “Maybe. It would make for a funny gravestone.”

Joel sighed. He was clearly nearing the end of his rope. “Ellie…”

“Okay, okay,” Ellie said. “No, I don’t really want to get tetanus. Even though I don’t know what it is. I trust you that it’s bad.” She shifted her feet. “But I also don’t want to walk all the way back to the hall and get shoes that are gonna hurt my feet, either.”

“Well, I don’t see another option,” Joel said.

Ellie thought for a minute.

“Bend over, old man,” she said.

Joel blinked. “Pardon?”

Ellie closed the distance between them and shoved him over. “Just do it.”

She put her arms on his shoulders and jumped, wrapping her legs around his waist. Joel had to move quick to catch her, slotting his arms under her thighs.

“Are you shittin’ me, kid?!” Joel said. He was trying to sound angry, but Ellie could tell he was holding in a laugh.

“You’re the one who didn’t want my precious feet stepping on broken glass!”

“You’ll be lucky if I don’t find some and throw you in it.” Joel wasn’t even trying not to laugh anymore. “You know, you’re lucky you haven’t gained a lick of weight since we met.”

"Yeah, yeah. Mush, dude."

Joel continued grumbling all the way home. Ellie just tucked her face into his shoulder and smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I broke the epilogue into two parts because I wanted to post it faster! So there's more coming!


	6. Chapter 6

“Ellie. Hey, sleepyhead. Wake up.”

Ellie opened her eyes slowly. Where was she? Why was she so high up?

“We’re home, baby girl.”

Oh. She was still on Joel’s back. She must have nodded off. Probably due to the alcohol. Her mouth felt dry and gross.

They were in her bedroom. Joel walked over to the bed and turned around, so Ellie could slide off of him onto it.

“Mmmph,” Ellie mumbled.

“Hungover already?” Joel asked.

“No,” Ellie whined. “Just sleepy.” She yawned. “Can I come sleep in your bed tonight?”

Ellie had been sneaking into Joel’s bed more and more lately. When they’d first arrived in Jackson, she’d still been pissed at him for lying about the Fireflies, and she’d insisted on having her own room. It was nice sometimes, to have her own space, where she could practice her guitar and pretend she was a regular kid. But having all that space, all that distance from Joel, wasn’t so wonderful when she had nightmares that made her wake up drenched in sweat and shaking. And Ellie had a lot of nightmares.

“Yeah, ‘course so.” Ellie could have sworn Joel smiled a bit. She was pretty sure he liked having her in his bed as much as she liked being there. “Do I have to carry you there, too?”

“Nah,” Ellie said. “I gotta get changed. I think I can manage walking over there after.”

Ellie slipped off her dress, laying it out nicely on her bed, and then put on her pajamas – a pair of shorts and one of Joel’s old plaid shirts. Ellie loved that shirt; it was worn-out and soft, and it made her feel comforted.

When she got to Joel’s room, he was already in bed. She lifted up the blanket and slid in beside him.

“I got you a glass of water for the mornin’,” Joel said with a chuckle. “You’re gonna need it.”

“Har har,” Ellie said. She didn’t feel drunk anymore; just exhausted.

She nudged Joel with her foot, her usual signal that she wanted to get closer. Joel lifted his arm and wrapped it around her shoulder, so she could curl up against his side.

“You have fun at your first wedding tonight, baby girl?” Joel asked her. He sounded as tired as Ellie felt.

“Yeah, loads,” Ellie said. “Dancin’ with you was pretty nice.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Joel said. “Don’t expect that to be happenin’ every day.”

Ellie lifted her head to look at his face. “What about you? Did you have fun?”

Joel considered for a moment. “Yeah, I did,” he said. “But the whole thing’s kinda surreal, you know? After everything that went down between me and Tommy, and everything that went down with the world, I dunno… If you’d told me two years ago I’d be dancin’ at my brother’s wedding, I’d’ve said you were full of shit.”

“Yeah, well, if all that hadn’t happened, you would never have met me. And you probably wouldn’t have been dancing if I didn’t force you.”

Joel let out a quiet chuckle. “Yeah, that’s probably true, kid.”

Ellie laid her head back down on Joel’s chest and closed her eyes. “You know, Maria said something tonight,” she said. “About how when she was my age, she never wanted a wedding at all, but now that she had one, here, she was really excited about it. Because the world’s such a fucking shithole, it makes the few good things we have all the more special. You know?”

Joel was silent for a moment. Then he pulled Ellie in close, and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

“Yeah, baby girl. I know.”

Ellie was starting to drift off. “Me too,” she mumbled.

She felt Joel’s laugh in his chest. “Go to sleep now, Ellie.” He kissed her head one more time.

Ellie did as he asked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to comment on this! I've been going through a really rough time and writing this and reading your comments has helped keep me going! I'll prooooobably be back with some more Joel and Ellie stories soon!


End file.
